


city lights on the water

by lovely_ericas



Category: One Day at a Time (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-21 21:03:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17050535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovely_ericas/pseuds/lovely_ericas
Summary: Elena and Syd have to babysit Syd's little sister.





	city lights on the water

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SuperKat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperKat/gifts).



> We don't know anything about Syd's family or home life beside the fact that they're home-schooled and have a pet chinchilla. In this story, Syd's parents are going away for the weekend, leaving Syd to look after their little sister.   
> As far as Elena's friends - I invented Alexis, whose mother probably would not let her come to their protest and James is the name I gave to the guy in 'To Zhir, With Love', who it doesn't seem introduced himself. I hope he doesn't have another name somewhere else because I really like my 'Jim' jokes.  
> A new season of One Day at a Time is coming in February, which is, of course, awesome but likely means that at least some of this will quickly be rendered non-canonical. Oh, well, ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯, hope you like this anyway!

“Do you have everything?” Mamí asks as Elena enters the living room wearing her backpack.

“Of course I do,” Elena huffs as she pulls on her sneakers and grabs a banana from the bowl of fruit on the table. She’s going over to stay the night at Syd’s. Syd’s parents are out of town this weekend for a wedding and they’re looking after their little sister. Mamí has only agreed to let her stay over since Syd isn’t going to be home alone.

Alex’s sprawled on the couch, texting on his phone, but stops for long enough to express how happy he’s going to be to be the only kid in the house.

Elena thinks about retorting that once he gets a girlfriend (or boyfriend! She knows Alex said he’s straight and of course she’ll still love him if he is, but hey, she had thought she was straight too, hadn’t she?), he won’t enjoy all this attention so much but she’s heading out and there’s no point in starting a fight with Alex right now.

“Okay, bye!” She says, grabbing for the door and trying to make it out the door.

“Un, un.” Mamí tsks. Elena stops and turns back around. “I expect a call from you once you’ve arrived at Syd’s, then a call every three hours until midnight or send me a text every half hour. Call me tomorrow morning when you leave Syd’s.”

“I promise.” Elena says, tucking her phone into her sweater pocket. She waves her wallet and bus pass. “Can I go now?”

“If you’re sure you don’t want to put on a leetle makeup.” Abuela puts in.

Elena rolls her eyes. “I’m sure.” She says over her shoulder, closing the door behind her. She walks to the elevator and hits the elevator button but when she sees the elevator is all the way up on ten, she decides to take the stairs.

She walks two blocks up the street to the #17 bus stop and sits down on the bench. She checks her phone for the time. The bus is due in three minutes if it comes on time. Elena fiddles with her phone, looking through her recent messages. There are (5) unread messages in her friend group chat, a text from Margaux and (1) missed call from some number she doesn’t know.

Elena opens Margaux’s text to see what zhir sent her. ‘ _got the tkts for elle_ _👑_ _like u asked. big plans for yr 6 mo anniv?'_ '

Elena starts to type out a reply but stops. She doesn’t really have big plans for her six month anniversary with Syd which is in two weeks. She just knows she has to make it a big thing since Syd always went big, for their anniversaries and in general, like the big ask to homecoming. Elena would have been quite content with less. Personally, Syd’s mix cds, in spite of her and their divergent music taste, were far more meaningful to her than, well, big gestures. Those big gestures did make her feel special, though, and she wanted to be able to make Syd feel good too.

Syd liked Elle King, though, so Elena had started there – they were going to see her in concert in three weeks. Margaux’s dad worked in the music industry so Elena had reached out to Margaux to see if zhe could connect them with some tickets. Other than that, well, Elena had plans to have big plans but other than that she was currently stumped. She knew what Syd liked of course but she didn’t want to get them anything too similar to past occasions. 

The bus pulls up just then and Elena stuffs her phone in her pocket and climbs on, swiping her bus pass. She takes a seat near the middle, making a note of how many stops until Syd’s house – there are 15. Elena has only been to Syd’s house a few times; usually they hung out at her place.

She takes out her phone again and flips to the group chat. She doesn’t get a chance to see most of her friends irl. She sees the most of Syd which made sense since Syd is also her best friend and they’re dating. Dani goes to school and lives on the other side of the city plus she seems to spend most of her free time irl with her girlfriend Louise. Alexis is homeschooled like Syd but unlike Syd, her mom is incredibly strict and demands to know and vet what she’s doing at all times. James goes to an all boys’ school and is always insisting that they should all steer clear of that toxic environment. She and Syd had met up with him and his boyfriend Ryan on a Saturday once.

She sees the most of Margaux, who goes to public school not far from Elena, which probably explains why she is closest to zhe of everyone beside Syd.

 _Syd: we should get together to do something chill_

_Syd: like a doctor who marathon_

_James: im in but not if u guys make me watch black & white_

_Margaux: excuse u jim, clsc who is a treasure_

_Alexis: Like irl? Could we do it using rabbit instead?_

Elena taps on her keyboard. Would Alexis’ mother let her come if she talked to Mamí? Maybe Elena could host. Before she had finished typing, more texts popped up.

_Syd liked “Margaux: excuse u jim, clsc who is a treasure.”  
_

_James: jim??!! really?_

_Dani: can’t we do something gayer_

_Margaux: like supergirl_

_Dani: like supergirl_

_Dani: exactly  
_

_James: superheroes is so much worse_

_Dani: let’s take a vote, so that’s 2 for supergirl_

_Margaux: oh i wasn’t voting for supergirl, i was predicting your response_

_James laughed at “Margaux: oh i wasn’t voting for supergirl, i was predicting your response.”_

Elena types out: ‘ _Let’s try and figure out a day and time then decide what we’re going to watch. Alexis, I might be able to host, if my mom talks to yours, could you come?_ ’

_Alexis liked Elena’s “Let’s try and figure out a day and time then decide what we’re going to watch. Alexis, I might be able to host, if my mom talks to yours, could you come?”_

_Syd liked Elena’s “Let’s try and figure out a day and time then decide what we’re going to watch. Alexis, I might be able to host, if my mom talks to yours, could you come?”_

_Alexis: Maybe!_

_Syd: i still think doctor who’s pretty gay_

_James: so’s will and grace, doesn’t mean i want to watch that either_

_Margaux: u know what, just for that_

_Margaux changed “James” to “jim”._

_jim: this is annoying for multiple reasons_

_Dani: here we go_

_jim: 1) i actually like the idea of us having nicknames for each other_

_jim: 2) i like having those names in the group chat instead of our names_

_Alexis: me too :)_

_jim: BUT MINE’S JIM??!!!_

_Margaux: what’s wrong w/jim, jim? :P_

Elena glances up at the window. Wilshire Boulevard, which means two more stops.

_jim: it’s LITERALLY just a nickname for james_

_jim: there’s no meaning or joke_

_jim changed “Margaux” to “daisy”._

_jim: enjoy_

_daisy: wait, why am i daisy?_

The bus comes to a halt at the stop and Elena climbs off the bus, walking a block north to Syd’s. Her phone continued to buzz as her friends chattered at each other. Their neighborhood is not quite like hers. Syd’s street is entirely residential, largely single family homes whereas hers is filled with apartment buildings side by side with delis and butcher’s shops.

She walks up the steps and rings the doorbell.

“Who is it?” She hears someone call.

“It’s Elena.” She calls, hoping she hadn’t suddenly gone to the wrong house.

There is a sound of a lock twisting and then the door opens, revealing a ten year old on the other side staring at Elena.

“You’re Elena.” She says.

Elena smiles nervously. “That’s me.”

The girl turns around and calls into the house, “It’s Elena!”

Syd’s muffled voice comes back to them. “I know it’s Elena, she told us! Let her in, Sadie!”

Sadie looks at her skeptically but moves aside in the doorway. Elena walks inside and Sadie shuts the door behind her.

Sadie walks further into the house so Elena follows her into the living room. A door opens and Syd comes in from the bathroom. 

“Hey,” they says, smiling at Elena. 

“Hey,” Elena says, smiling back.

Sadie sits on the couch and watches them, not looking particularly interested.

“Is everyone with a girlfriend this boring?” She asks. 

Elena stiffens a bit but Syd just rolls their eyes.

“I’m boring because I’m me not because I have girlfriend.” They say.

Sadie concedes that that seemed reasonable and disappears upstairs into her room.

“Hey.” Syd says again. “Sorry about her.”

“That’s okay.” Elena says. “What did you want to do?” 

“Well, I’m responsible for feeding Sadie and making her go to sleep but otherwise as long as she doesn’t actually kill anyone, we can do whatever. I was thinking pizza for dinner?”

“Sure!”

“ _Doctor Who_?” Syd asks with a grin.

“Absolutely!” Elena says.

Syd opens their laptop and pulls up the most recent episode of _Doctor Who_. They pass Elena a pack of twizzlers and begin opening up a pack of mini chocolates as the familiar music plays onscreen.

Elena takes a peek at the (22) unread messages from her friend chat.

_jim: marguerite - > margaux -> daisy_

_…_

_Dani: okay if no supergirl, what about disney movies? anastasia?_

_…_

_jim: oh my god, star trek’s even worse  
_

_daisy: there’s just no pleasing you jim_

_…_

_Romanov: my mom said if she meets your mom, I could come!_ _🤞_

Syd nudges her. “Hey, what’s wrong? I thought you wanted to watch.” They ask.

Elena flashes her smile. “No, no, I did, I _do_.” She puts her phone down on the table next to Syd’s computer.

“What’s the matter then?” Syd asks in concern. “Do you not like Jodie Whittaker? Is the writing bad? Oh, or can you not hear the show well enough? I can turn on subti-”

“That’s okay, it’s not that.” Elena interrupts. “Well, I mean…I guess, I like Jodie a lot. I like how her version of the Doctor is both a mess _and_ competent. She’s not like that different from previous doctors while at the same time..”

Syd nods vigorously. “She’s still being written to reflect the fact that she is a woman and viewed that way by the people around her.”

“Exactly! But as much as I do like her, Jodie and the character, I mean. It would have been really cool also to have a person of color playing the Doctor. I know there aren’t that many Latinx people in the UK but fans were pitching some really amazing actors – Idris Elba and Chiwetel Ejiofor – and I know it would have been a long shot, a black actress, but someone said Angel Coulby.”

Syd’s eyes went wide. “Angel Coulby would have been so amazing!”

Elena smiles. “This is why I like you so much! I mean, yes, you agree with me but also, you’re really positive? I’m not as good as that.”

Syd blushes. “I don’t know if that’s true but thanks. Want to keep watching? Or watch something else?” 

“Let’s finish the episode.” Elena says, snuggling onto the couch. Syd leans forward, making the show full screen again on her computer and hitting play

“Or Mandip Gill.” Syd adds as the actress appears onscreen. “As the Doctor, I mean, not as Yasmin, instead of Jodie.”

Elena rests her head on Syd’s shoulder and after a brief hesitation, Syd rests their head on top of Elena’s. 

“When do you want to order pizza?” Syd whispers.

“Around six?” Elena says, whispering back.

“Sounds good. I’ve got to have you meet Roxie later.” Syd whispers.

“Okay. Why are we whispering?” Elena asks. 

“I don’t know.” Syd says in a normal tone. They both break out into giggles.

“Seriously, though, want to go out into the backyard after dark and look at the stars?” Syd asks. “The view’s really pretty.”

“Definitely.” Elena agrees. She settles her head back on Syd’s shoulder. 

Later they’ll watch the river, the city lights glinting, from Syd’s backyard, finishing their pizza and sharing a bowl of cookie dough ice cream. They’ll change into their pajamas and fall asleep whispering and giggling in Syd’s bed.

Elena can’t stop herself smiling.

**Author's Note:**

> P.S. I also spent a stupid amount of time trying to figure out where Elena and Syd would live and how long and which buses Elena would take to get there. I commit to my stories, okay?


End file.
